Riu Atoll - All Inclusive

This place is heaven, booked with Emirates , everything was perfect I would definitely recommend the rooms on the beach front .. direct access to swimming with turtles and an array of most amazing colourful fish, best take your own snorkel you won’t regret Fabulous rooms , fridge well stocked every day, food and drink very good , plenty activities to try on the very calm waters This is a once in a life time holiday but I will try my best to return.. absolutely amazing YOLO

Paradise, Heaven on Earth! We had an amazing 22yr wedding anniversary trip, holiday of a lifetime and here is an honest review of all encountered- Getting there - Flew with Emirates via connection at Dubai, ok but disappointed compared to expectations for airline, Tui long haul far better from past experience. Arrived in Male,met by Riu staff, surprised to get a seaplane as hadn't paid any extra, fantastic experience! Check in - smooth and efficient Accommodation- Had a room with beach access, bed decorated for our anniversary, perfect! Wildlife - bats the size of cats fly around daily, lizards and chameleons can be spotted and the birds are very friendly. House Reef - OUTSTANDING! Never have we experienced such a range of tropical fish. Sharks seen every day along the coastline especially at the end of the island where two tides meet at sunrise 🌅 worth the early vist! Sting rays seen around the island too! Sunsets are also amazing at the other end of the island...we took a few towels to sit on and a drink and sat and enjoyed every day! Watersports were fab! Pedal boats, snorkeling equipment,paddle boards and kayaks all free for an hr! Doctor on site - needed the doctor and was worried would be costly, there everyday and reasonable, very friendly and felt reassured. Price list displayed in office, no hidden costs. Bars - carlsberg available at the sports bar...other beer stronger and not as nice Cocktails were a struggle as the juices are watered down and don't make a great cocktail. If you pick a cocktail without much fresh juice they taste nice. Cococabana with rum was nice and blue lagoon but sex on the beach not great! Restaurants- steak a la carte was fantastic! Absolutely delicious! Italian was great! Buffet good range but a bit repetitive with some items but not with others...eg Hash browns every few days with breakfast...again fresh juice watered down. Call reception to book if app is problematic for a la carts ...they have further dates available too. Ice cream available at beach bar...snack bar in steakhouse during the day not advertised...open 10.30 - 12.30 and 3.30 - 5.30 every day. Booked the sunset cruise on site at watersports very reasonable and a great boat ride! Sat ontop, fab view and lovely breeze! Would highly recommend! Staff- all were fantastic and could not do enough for you but special mention to Jessica at sunshine bar...Best cocktail maker! Jenson in the buffet....so happy and made us feel so welcome every night! Mary at the a la cartes looked after us really well! Definitely would return!

My partner and I went to Riu Atoll at the end of July/start of August for 10 nights. The RIU team were fantastic and very helpful when it came to national transfers from Male airport- so although you might have a long wait (depending on where you have travelled from), the team will sort this travel out for you. After arriving at Male at about 4pm, we made it to the hotel at around 7/8pm, but this was due to waiting for transfers more than anything else. When we got there, we had an on-beach villa and these were superb. Air conditioning and a fan were available in the room, and it did get chilly at times, but the switches are fully functional and could be turned off whenever you needed it. Due to the humidity on the island, we appreciated it!! The cleaning team are in every morning and generally (barring one day where the floor could have been swept better- but likely due to the location of the room!) did a good job of keeping things tidy. Unlike other RIU hotels, our minibar did not have any spirits in (soft drinks and beer only) but this wasn't too much of an issue to us. Speaking of food and drink, there were many options available throughout the hotel. Though I wasn't a big fan of the Italian specialty restaurant, the main restaurant has good and fresh options, and the steakhouse is not to be missed. I must also compliment the bar/restaurant staff here, who were very attentive and polite throughout the resort. The sports bar has some nibbles stocked up, which proved to be useful after a night of drinking! I wasn't the biggest fan of all of the entertainment on offer, but there was clear effort being put in. The RIU World Night was good fun, and I felt this was better than the White Night personally. There are binightly Kahoot quizzes which were good fun, particularly the live band quiz. I agree with some criticisms in these reviews about the band's repetitiveness, but my partner is in performing arts so do take it with a pinch of salt. Aside from the evening's entertainment, we wish we'd made more of Scuba Caribe's options- most options are free with all-inclusive, but you need a deposit for snorkelling masks. We had an amazing time kayaking and snorkelling, and it is definitely a big hit. The entertainment team in the daytime were good fun and aqua gym proved to be busy! I proposed to my partner on this holiday (she did say yes, thank goodness!), and the Riu Atoll reception team were very helpful in setting this up in the weeks prior/during my stay. The options were a little expensive, but I was happy to pay it and the service/what we received was definitely worth it. If you're reading this before going, do make sure you navigate the Riu app before you go/on arrival, as this has not always proved the easiest to do- and this is how you'd book the Specialty restaurants/ any of the special engagement packages. I've tried to write a balanced review above, but we had such an incredible time and aside from really small things (and things out of the hotel's control, like delays on the way back at Male airport), I cannot complain at all. Riu Atoll will hold a fond place in my heart, and I'd love to go back one day. Sending my regards to the team!

Following 10 blissful days staying at the RIU Atoll, a 5* review is well deserved. The island is absolutely stunningly beautiful, complete with a superb house reef where many fish can be easily spotted swimming around your feet before even approaching the reef with a snorkel. What made the whole stay particularly enjoyable was the dedication and friendliness of all the staff that make up the Riu team throughout the island. A special mention goes to Samee, Faz, Singhe, Chandima, Kelvin and Roshan (bars) Thaney, Mary, Rose and Phillipe (restaurants ) Ash (fitness) and not least a huge thank you to Shaidur our houseboy who did an outstanding job. Thank you also to Rowini and the other group members that provide live music entertainment in the evenings, we loved it! Each and everyone of these people ensured that we were provided with everything we needed to make our stay perfect, giving us spectacular memories to last a lifetime. We cannot fault the facilities available, from the rooms (gorgeous) to the food (excellent) to the entertainment (enjoyable). Well done to all of you, and Thank you! Alan & Chris

Travelled to Riu Atoll after our initial holiday to Jamaica was cancelled and all I can say is Wow!!! Hurricane Beryl “Thank You” Flew out with Qatar and whilst the journey was a long one made longer by a 90-minute delay due to stormy weather over Germany it was worthwhile. On arrival at Male Int we were met by a couple of Riu Reps who escorted us to a little lounge to await the internal flight, this was the part of the journey I was worried about but the guys were great. Pretty soon we were checking in for the flight and on landing whisked away to get the boat to the island. Once we landed at the resort, we were met by the Tui reps who mut have one of the best gigs in the industry!! For us we saw them day 1 and on departure day so can not make any real comment about them as no real interaction but they seemed nice enough. Once we were orientated, we were shown to our room, initially the labels on our cases said block 15 but that was changed on arrival to block 10, room 1011 which for us was absolutely perfect close enough to amenities but nice and quiet, could not have asked for anything better! Room was well maintained and had everything we needed in it and our cleaner was done and dusted most days by 11.00am, sadly I don’t recall his name but was such a nice guy. Fridge was filled daily with beer and soft drinks but there were no spirits which as a Riu hotel seemed unusual, maybe Optics with “House” brand alcohol would be good, that said we did not go short!! I don’t really know where to begin with the rest so will start with the amenities. Food Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be taken in the Buffet restaurant which was excellent, plenty of choices and always something to try. The chefs were excellent and were always on hand to help my wife with advice regarding her Gluten and shellfish intolerance, and made her special meals if she wanted, they were amazing. Yes, after two weeks it was a bit samey but always able to fill up, that said watch out for the Beef Curry that was like Liquid Lava!!! Ate at the Italian a couple of times which was OK but again very limited due to Intolerance issues and also ate at the steak house a couple of times but that was so hard to get into basically you had to be looking two days ahead and be on the app at midnight. Pool life was great but the Towel game is real and to get a decent bed round the pool you will need to be up early! I don’t mind the game if at least you use the bed but there were times that beds were towled up but never used and that is annoying. There was pool aerobics everyday and those who dis it really enjoyed it, especially when someone hacked into the speaker and blasted out some Rammstein – Du Hast not saying who that was though😊but it seemed to go down well. Drinks you won’t go short there are “Branded” products available such as Gordons Gin or Smirnoff Vodka but to be honest house was fine. Bar staff were great and would make up anything you wanted in particular even if it was not on the list. Big shout out to the bar staff at the pool as a team they were excellent and would be making your drink in a jiffy, often before you ordered it! The sports bar was a great place to go for an hour to cool down in the air conditioning and we took advantage of that regularly only thing I would say is that the background music needs to be louder or have the TV sounds on as the noise levels of music currently is to low. Nightly entertainment was in the main theatre and probably for me is the one are that needs to be improved, no big shows like in other Riu hotels but understandable given the situation on being in the middle of nowhere. However, the house band are very repetitive and the same songs appear on many nights. Whilst there the resort team held a “Maldives” night which was great and I think it should most certainly become part of the weekly offer. There is a movie night which was fun and at least now I can say I have seen the Greatest Showman. The Beach basically the only word that covers it is WOW! I have never seen water like that in my life, it was just the most special place to be, even though there are many guests it still had the feeling of being on a desert island. The house reef at the end of the atoll is great for snorkelling and would strongly recommend you bring yours and also some sea shoes, watch out as the currents at times are quite strong and you can drift quite easily. Again, another improvement would be to have a small bar at the far end of the island as the walk down there in the heat leaves you parched! The water sports available for free as part of your package include Pedalo’s and Paddleboard, had a pedalo and that was great if a little squeaky! But the biggest attribute of this resort is the people working there, everyone wants to please and I just wish that certain groups of people staying could learn some manners and how to use the words Please and Thank you civility costs you nothing. Couple of specific mentions to people firstly to Thaney in the restaurants many thanks for your time and assistance over the 2 weeks it was great speaking with you daily and good luck for the future. To the Indonesian girl at the pool bar (Sorry forgot your name it happens with old age!) thanks for the lime sodas and hopefully the Riu in Bali is built! Finally, Ash on the Riu fit team your enthusiasm is fantastic and thanks for making me play Boules it was great fun, maybe see you in Sri Lanka with a bit more Rammstein! In closing without any real planning, we had the best holiday of our lives, I have never been so relaxed in my life and that is something I won’t forget, roll on retirement and maybe 3 weeks will be even more relaxing!!! To those who are thinking about going just do It you will not regret it!!!!!